Is A Finished Attic Considered A Bedroom

My husband and i have a large attic space above our main living area.

Is a finished attic considered a bedroom.

Square footage and the mls. I often see homes with a finished attic that are used as bedrooms or the re agent will call it a bedroom in the listing. If a room which meets guideline 5 and should be included in gla has a sloping ceiling the appraiser should consider the 5 foot height rule for calculating livable space. Trusses are considered a superior method of framing a roof because of the additional support.

Follow the rule of 7s. It turns out we don t have the necessary means to properly finish the attic. In the chicago area berg sees many homes where space is limited and the only way to expand is up. There are no special exceptions just because it s living space in the attic.

How to use your finished attic space. The bedroom in the finished attic has 7 ft ceiling and is 220 square feet. But unless the house has a full bath on the same floor i don t call it a bedroom. The erc guideline also states.

The codes say that the. Every other bedroom has convenient access to a full bath so it s a question of equivalent functional utility. Included in the calculation would be only that floor area for which there is a vertical distance of 5 or more feet between floor and ceiling. So just 1 inch of the 6 ft wide closet is 7 ft tall.

The closet adjoining the room has a 7 ft tall ceiling center that dives down to 5 ft tall walls. Ironically though it s the rafters that provide a better environment for an attic conversion because of the clear space. Every attic is different but a few established norms and practices will guide your renovation. Finishing an attic turns the finished parts into standard living spaces making them subject to all of the same rules that apply to other living areas of the home.

Enforcement varies but codes typically say that at least half of a finished attic must be at least 7 feet high and that this area must be a minimum of 7 feet wide and 70 square feet. There is a pull down staircase and right now we only use the attic for storage. If you have trusses it will be next to impossible to reconfigure them to allow for clear space. The fannie mae selling guide does not specifically identify any requirements for inclusion of finished attic spaces or ceiling heights.

If you re finishing your attic insulating it to the proper r value can cause a dramatic loss of headroom if you limit yourself to fiberglass batts. A contractor or a local building. Spaces like garages three season porches and unfinished basements or attics are not included in the square footage of a house. But there aren t many buyers who consider climbing multiple sets of stairs a day on their list of must haves.

We insulated last year and were considering finishing the space so i decided to do some research on what codes and regulations there were.